The Front Porch Blog

How Secure Is Financing Your Home Online?

Technology has changed the way we live our lives – including home financing! Eagle’s Digital Mortgage has been found to save days (even weeks!) in the mortgage process by providing a more complete pre-qualification upfront and an easy way for you to...

A Community That Fits Your Lifestyle

You’ve worked your sixty-hour weeks and raised your family, now is the time to live the lifestyle you deserve. Lennar's award-winning Active Adult communities create a relaxed and stress-free setting while also offering a variety of amenities and...

What a Home Inspection Should Cover

Before making what may be the largest investment of your life, you’ll want to get a home inspection. Home inspectors are trained to examine the physical structures and systems of a house. If you’re going to spend hundreds of thousands of your hard-earned dollars, don’t you want to know exactly what you’re getting? From the roof to the foundation, a home inspector’s report should note the overall condition of the home. It allows buyers to request repairs or negotiate a lower price, and homeowners can use it to make repairs that may make the home easier to sell.

How Do I Get a Home Inspection?

During a typical home sale, the inspection comes after the purchase agreement is signed—but that doesn’t mean the buyer is already locked into paying a certain price. The buyer and seller usually want to make sure they’ve been able to agree on a price before the buyer bothers shelling out the money for an inspection. The national average cost of a home inspection is $326.[1] Your real estate agent or broker may be able to help you find a reputable inspector. You can also use the find a home inspector tool to search for professionals in your area who are members of the American Society of Home Inspectors. Feel free to follow the home inspector as they work. It will give you a good idea of where important switches and systems are in your potential future home. Inspectors won’t generally look at the condition of anything that is not readily accessible, but here is a list of the main things they’ll check:

They should look for any cracks, dents, or leaks in the foundation, floors, walls, ceilings, siding, windows, doors, and the roof.

Electrical systems. Inspectors are trained to check the condition of cables, conductors, and panels. They’ll also note the number of installed light fixtures, switches, and outlets.

Plumbing systems. The inspector should check out all the faucets, drains, and pumps. They’ll document things like poor water pressure and corrosion, as well as the age and condition of the water heater.

Heating/air conditioning systems. Inspectors will usually note the age and energy rating of furnaces and air conditioners. However, not all inspectors will check solar heating and air conditioning systems. Be sure to ask if the home does have renewable energy technologies.

If you’d like to know the condition of some of those hard-to-reach systems like wells and septic tanks, you can get additional inspections. Many states even require a pest inspection in order to acquire a mortgage loan.

What to Do With the Results

It is highly unlikely that the home inspector’s report will be free and clear of any deficiencies. If the problems are really bad, you can still back out of the purchase altogether. If not, the inspector may provide an estimate of how much it would cost to fix each issue, and it’s up to you to decide how you want to deal with each one. Major problems, such as water damage, may want to be requested that the seller get it fixed before the closing. The smaller, cheaper problems may be used to negotiate a lower purchase price, and you can take care of it yourself after you move in. Either way, a home inspection will give you a better picture of what you’re looking to buy. It’ll help you make a better-informed decision to either move in or get out and continue your search for the perfect house.

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February 07 2019

A Modern Mortgage with a Personal Touch

In the digital age, we know that you expect a simple online experience that is quick, easy and guides you step-by-step through the mortgage process. With Eagle’s Digital Mortgage, you can apply for a home loan faster and easier than ever before –...

How Secure Is Financing Your Home Online?

Technology has changed the way we live our lives – including home financing! Eagle’s Digital Mortgage has been found to save days (even weeks!) in the mortgage process by providing a more complete pre-qualification upfront and an easy way for you to...

A Community That Fits Your Lifestyle

You’ve worked your sixty-hour weeks and raised your family, now is the time to live the lifestyle you deserve. Lennar's award-winning Active Adult communities create a relaxed and stress-free setting while also offering a variety of amenities and...

Student Loan Debt? How You Can Still Get A Mortgage.

While your student loan debt may look like the biggest obstacle getting in the way of homeownership, a lender may not see it as much of a threat. Here are what lenders are looking at and how your student loan debt affects your approval.

The Impact of Rising Rates

If you’ve ever had a credit card or purchased a car, you should be familiar with interest rates. An interest rate is the percentage of the amount you are borrowing (known as the principle) charged by the lender as a fee for allowing you to use their money....

What to Keep From Your Closing

After several stressful months of buying or selling your home, it may be tempting to put the transaction in the past and dispose of the evidence—which is often more than 100 pages. However, there are several important legal and financial documents...

What is an Appraised Value?

Everyone wants to sell their house for more than they bought it for, but real estate is trickier than that. Markets change, and home values change right along with them. Fortunately, there are licensed professionals called appraisers who will come to your home,...

Pros and Cons of Buying a Condo

Whether you are a first-time homebuyer or searching for home number ten, buying a condo instead of a house may be the perfect choice. Most condos are essentially a hybrid between an apartment and a single-family home. They are great for certain lifestyles but...

What a Home Inspection Should Cover

Before making what may be the largest investment of your life, you’ll want to get a home inspection. Home inspectors are trained to examine the physical structures and systems of a house. If you’re going to spend hundreds of thousands of your...

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Eagle Home Mortgage, LLC. and Eagle Home Mortgage of California are subsidiaries of Lennar, an S&P 500 real estate and financial services leader. Whether you are buying your first home or your fifth, our focus is to provide you with exceptional customer service and home financing options that are best for your needs.